Bernard Joseph Tully was an American politician, twice convicted on federal corruption charges, who served in the Massachusetts Senate and was

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. Tully was born on January 4, 1927, and died on November 1, 2015, in

. He attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Prior to his election to the state senate, Tully worked as a manufacturer's agent as was a member of the Dracut, Massachusetts Board of Selectmen. From 1971 to 1979, Tully represented the First Middlesex District in the Massachusetts Senate. He resigned from the Senate after he was selected by the Lowell City Council to serve as city manager. He remained city manager until his retirement in 1987. In 1988, Tully was found guilty of attempted extortion and mail fraud and sentenced to three years in federal prison in a case involving a land swap made with an auto dealership during his tenure as city manager. In 2011 he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after he took $12,000 worth of bribes from a Lowell landlord who was looking for the Registry of Motor Vehicles to renew its lease with him. Tully reached out to the owner and told him that if he paid him he would pay off a state senator and help keep the Registry office open. Tully and a partner pocketed the bribes and did not pay off any public officials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tully, B. Joseph 1927 births American extortionists City managers of Lowell, Massachusetts Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators People from Dracut, Massachusetts 2015 deaths American politicians convicted of fraud American people convicted of federal public corruption crimes Massachusetts government officials convicted of crimes Massachusetts politicians convicted of corruption